We missed another birthday, and most of us didn't even notice! Whose birthday, you ask? Our own! On April 2, all Americans should have celebrated the 498th anniversary of the discovery of the land that came to be known as the United States of America. I know. History books tell us that April 2, 1513, was the day Juan Ponce de León first sighted and named Florida. But unfortunately, we simply assume that it was only the peninsula we now know as the state of Florida.Read more ...

My reservations are made; my plans are solid. I'm going to be in Florida on April 2 and 3 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de Leon's great discovery. But it's not really fair. I'm going to a celebration that should be coming to me — and to all of us across this country!

When Florida marks its quincentennial, the whole nation should be celebrating its 500th birthday.

After all, on April 2 and 3, 1513, Ponce de Leon didn't just discover and land on what today we know as the State of Florida but on the mainland that later became the United States. Read more ...

People were shouting "Viva España" and celebrating the great achievements of the Spanish conquistadors in Florida last week. They were dressing up as Spanish explorers, firing muskets and even cannons, listening to history lectures and attending Catholic masses in recognition that Christianity came to America with much more compassion than history tells us.

In two days and two cities, they celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery and landing by Juan Ponce de Leon on the flowery land he called "La Florida."

They were showcasing our normally hidden Hispanic heritage, and there I was, in the middle of it all, thanking the Lord for giving me the opportunity to see it with my own eyes. Borrowing a line from baseball, I kept telling myself, "I live for this." Read more ...